But what could it be? Below we've listed some of our lighthearted predictions, but we'd also love to hear your thoughts. At the bottom you'll find a poll to vote in, and if you've got any ideas be sure to head to the comments section and share them.

In the meantime, here are the predictions that sprang to our collective minds...

Pokémon Sword and Shield DLC / Expansion announced

Whether this involves new areas, new gyms or new monsters, it's not unimaginable that Pokémon will enter the realm of downloadable content proper. The 'Ultra' versions of the mainline games were the expansions in the past, but introducing another version of a game that's proved quite divisive to the Pokémon fanbase might be pushing it right now. A steady supply of expansions that bolsters the base game and gives Pokémon trainers who've earned their badges more to do in the post-game, though? Everyone's a winner, assuming they get the pricing right. Free would be nice.

New 'Ultra Pokémon Sword and Shield' revealed

Alternatively they could go all out and announce an 'Ultra' version of Sword and Shield. After only a couple of months, this is highly unlikely - it's far too soon for Pokémon Scabbard or Pokémon Gun or whatever the inevitable update will be called. Still we include it here for giggles. There are more outlandish, tongue-in-cheek suggestions to come, so prepare for a dose of levity, Pokéfans. We find it super effective in these trying times.

Pokémon HOME integration and launch date announced

A new service which promises to unify Pokémon from all the modern era games into one convenient storage solution, Pokémon HOME is cloud-based and will enable you to transfer compatible Pokémon between Pokémon GO, Pokémon Bank and the Switch Pokémon games, subject to restrictions. It's launching this year so we expect to hear more about it.

Previous Gen Pokémon to return in Pokémon Sword and Shield

The Galar Pokédex is a rather chunky monkey featuring 400 Pokémon spanning all eight generations to date. Of course, that's only around half of the entire catalogue of Pocket Monsters, and some dear favourites have inevitably fallen by the wayside. There's a big gap when it comes to starter Pokémon from previous generations, and with players naturally developing an attachment to their very first 'mon on every adventure, it would be nice to see a few more join the Galar roster.

There are plenty more favourites fans would like to see, though, and it's impossible to please everyone. Or is it?...

The entire National Pokédex added to Pokémon Sword and Shield

Alternatively, the 'impossible' could happen and following the #Dexit furore last year Game Freak could give in and throw the lot into Pokémon Sword and Shield. Oh, we imagine there'd be some weird restrictions like the new-old Pokémon can't actually battle and you can only view them while camping, or they can only fight each other and not the original Galar roster - something to complicate matters even further. Still, we'd take it.

To be clear, the chances of this happening are extremely slim, but we're shooting for the stars here.

Detective Pikachu Switch release date announced

A realistic, plausible prediction? How perfectly boring! Let's have another racier one...

Gen 8 Pokémon fighter joins Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

DLC Challenger #5 has yet to be revealed for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. There's a possibility it could be a Pokémon, although more DLC fighters are planned after the Challenger Pack has wrapped up, so there's every chance in the world we could see more Pokémon scrapping in Nintendo's crossover fighting game.

Whispers and theories online suggest that following Gen 6's Water starter (Greninja) and Gen 7's Fire type (Incineroar), Gen 8's Grass type Rillaboom is in the frame for a Smash invitation. As card-carrying Grookey fans, we'd certainly bang the drum for the 'boom.

Pokémon Sleep and Pokémon GO Plus Plus detailed

No, that's not a typo. The updated version of 2016's the Pokémon GO Plus, the wearable Pokémon GO companion gadget, the Pokémon GO Plus + (yes, 'Plus Plus') does everything the original does, but also tracks your sleep patterns and sends the information to your phone (and the upcoming Pokémon Sleep app).

Liable to send you to sleep whether you're a fan or not, we know the app and the Plus Plus are coming so they're a relatively safe bet for the Pokémon Direct.

Another Pokémon Mobile game announced

Yep, in The Pokémon Company's ongoing effort to find a mobile game that's even half as successful as the all-conquering Pokémon GO, we wouldn't be surprised to see a new mobile game announced. After Pokémon Masters failed to set the world alight (and even resulted in apologies from the developers), there's always space for a decent mobile Pokémon game that doesn't force you to leave the house in the middle of winter to nab a Chinchou at the bottom of the garden.

Pokémon Pay - the new Pokémon App revealed

Finally, introducing the latest Pokémon app! Having trouble catching 'em all? Why play when you can pay?! Standard Pokémon start at just $0.69. For $0.79 you can guarantee that a minimum of two out of their three stats will have the highest possible value, and for just $0.99 you can bag a Shiny version of your favourite 'mon. Purchase the PokéSub Plan for just $4.99 a month to join the PokéRaffle and collect a guaranteed Legendary Pokémon each and every month...

Gavin loves a bit of couch co-op, especially when he gets to delegate roles, bark instructions and give much-appreciated performance feedback at the end. He lives in Spain (the plain-y bit where the rain mainly falls) and his love for Banjo-Kazooie borders on the unhealthy.

I'd like to hear about pokemon home and how it works with bank. I'm sorta thinking about buying the old gens on the 3ds after Let's go lit that spark again to see if I can transfer some of them up. I don't care about the National Dex nonsense so I just want to know if Home is a good storage place. Other than that I have no expectations but if I could wish for something it would be a new let's go game.

Pretty low expectations. I expect the focus to be on Pokémon Home, perhaps going live after the direct. More information about Pokémon Sleep. Some additional Pokémon into Sword and Shield, either through Home or special raid events, but not many. Information about Detective Pikachu for Switch.

I’m not a Pokemon super-fan or anything, I’m fact, the last (and only) Pokemon I’ve played is Black and White on DS. But I hope they announce an awesome DLC expansion for Sword and Shield. I really want to want Sword.. if that makes sense

I kind if feel that people who think the entire national dex will return to Sword and Shield are... kinda optimistic.

And I say that as someone who DO think there will be more pokemons added to Sword and Shield in future updates throughout the next 1-2 years that will take us beyond the 435-ish(regional formes not included) that were datamined already. I just don't think we'll get the whole national dex necessarily for the same reasons even Pokemon Go doesn't have it yet after so many years now.

This by predictions in order:

1. Pokemon Home's release date will be revealed. Considering Sw&Sh's Ranked Battle Series 2 specifies that allowed pokemons include "pokemons obtained in pokemon sword and pokemon shield"(text that wasn't present during ranked battles series 1), I suspect that Home will thus be released before Series 2 is over. Perhaps sooner rather than later.

2. The Direct might thus be focused around Home's features and how they can benefit Sword and Shield. Since early announcements already confirmed trading between users, I suspect a decent bit of the direct will focus on how the Home environment will support this. This could(but not necessarily) reveal the presence of GTS-style systems within Home's cross-games storage which would explain such a system missing from Swird and Shield. Potentially also bits about how interactions between users within Home will be handled to explain how direct trades could take place at least. Perhaps even confirm nonGalardex pokemons as being able to evolve when traded to another users within Home as they would within an actual game.

4. Probably won't happen but remain possible: the reveal of additional features within Home. Strong contenders in my opinion would be a Poke Pelago-style environment. A slight possibility might be a nursery, allowing pokemons from Galar to be bred with pokemons from outside Sword and Shield(and thus allowing offsprings of compatible species to be exported back into Sword and Shield with appropriate resulting egg moves). Perhaps other similar mechanics close to minigames but honestly anything beyond poke pelago/home hamnerlocke university/nursery feels like a stretch.

5. Most unlikely to happen but sits within the realm of possibility? : an online battler or battle generator allowing classic style battles with 2D graphics or something that can similarly be done on a lower budget. Other similar mechanics that could further justify porting over older pokemons not find within Sw&Sh.

And finally:

6. Actually likely but might just not be ready to reveal yet(and this might be held back for future Directs): Virtual Console-style releases of older games. Such as GBA's RubySapphireEmerald. With support to export(perhaps import compatible ones even?) pokemons into Hpme of course.

Could be done in one of three fashion:

A: As individual eshop purchased(simple but practical and still appealing in itself).

B: As part of a collection app accessed from the Online Services subscription. This could be done either through apps related to their original console(like the NES and SNES current apps) or, in a twist, as part of an outright "Pokemon Classics Collection" app that could, in time, cover multiple consoles generations.

C. A variant of B, but were the "Pokemon Classics Collection" app turns out to be Pokemon Home itself as the very "home" of these games from which we wed acces then in the first place. This one feels like a bit of a stretch but could game strong appeal if this mean players could play the classics games on their own smartphones through the mobile Home app as well.

Finally for the "hypothetical Direct closing bonus":

This one is actually unlikely but a potential reveal at the end of the Stream of Smash Bros's 5th DLC fighter being a 8th gen pokemon(or even trainer with their team of signature pokemons but this one is very much a stretch unless it had begun works soon as Smash had been released in the first place since that would be basically a 3-characters-in-one deal after all).

@westman98 basically my own thoughts. One thing I noted of most mobile games is how much Nintendo is NOT involved in them. We might hear of GO at Pokemon Company events but I certainly don't recall hearing of it at a Nintendo event at all.

The closest I can think of is only when Let's GO was revealed and thus only in indirect fashion because it was lewdly a Switch game meant to interact with Pokemon Go in the first place.

@Bon_Kurei the fact that Ranked Battle Series 2 in Sw&Sh kings of already indirectly hint that pokemons that can be obtained outside Sword and Shield will soon be a thing(which was text that wasn't presents in Series 1's rules) tells me that Home is coming very soon(before Series 2 is over) and a 20min Direct is exactly the length I'd assume a Direct announcing Home and it's features at release will be like.

MAYBE with hints of future features that might come later when if it's just a single line going "but that's just the feature at release and expect Home to change and grown within even just the next year" with future Directs or announcements being made throughout the year to announce those features(my prediction: interaction mechanics. PokePelago/Hammerlocke University/Nursery-style mechanic. Support for future Virtual Consoles-like classics release. MAYBE a battling environment within the confine of Hone but unlike other stuff that might clash with the "home" theme. Perhaps pokeamie-style minigames eventually. But any of that would only happen later and not at release).

But even that might this just be an hint of it being indeed a location for future unique event raids(such as legendary or even mythical pokemons dynamax raid events).

Considering that all the legendaries within the game's data are from older gens however, that is something for which they are indeed waiting for Home to be released before they start any such major thing(that -way- veterans might already be able to import their own in parallel to newcomers catching them for the first time).

@ToonStuff probably Home but I suspect that the direct will still end with something going like "but that's only the start and Home will become only bigger in the future" with future Directs announcing not only more features but stuff like Virtual Console-style releases of more classic titles(either individually or within a GB/GBC/GBA Online app or even a "Pokemon Classics Collection", in which case they might get tied to a Nintendo Online Services subscription to add further appeal to the subscription beyond online play and NES/SNES games).

Since they mentioned Sword/Shield updates, I expect DLC. Otherwise, Home is a given. They might talk about mobile projects, too. I most certainly don't expect any new mainline game announcements. It does feel anticlimatic to get a Pokemon Direct and not even a title tease, but Nintendo Directs can be quite anticlimatic, like September's.

I feel like people would be mighty disappointed by a Pokémon being the next DLC fighter in Smash - I know I would. This is no offense to Pokémon fans, but there are quite a few Pokémon already in the roster. Adding a DLC Pokémon would be about as exciting as adding yet another Fire Emblem character to the roster as DLC.

I feel like the DLC fighters should be limited to "pie in the sky" additions.

I would like a Pokemon Snap 2 please. Don't think they would announce a new mainline Pokemon game just yet as Sword and Shield haven't been out for that long, but then they could announce it's in development.

@GamingFan4Lyf I don't think anyone's really clamoring for another Pokemon, it's just a likely guess. Sakurai could make it work like with Inciniroar (I certainly wasn't amped until I saw him in-game), but I'm inclined to believe it's going to be another 3rd Party character based on the pattern, at least for the original Fighters Pass.

Personally hoping for Mystery Dungeon and Rangers, but Snap! would be cool for a return, and long overdue. Detective Pikachu is fine too, but I wouldn't mind some off the wall spin-off. Also,I wonder if Red and Blue have been considered for Switch.

Feel they're going to show off Home, which leads into mentioning about the 35 Non Galar Dex Pokemon allowed in, claiming you're allowed to bring in more than the Dex, even mentioning Gigantimax Melmetal. After that, officially revealing Detective Pikachu 2, and announcing a Switch port of the original. Finally, more info on Pokemon Sleep.

May not be in that order, but those feel like the likely announcements.

Diamond and Pearl are announced to be remade next, but the overworld camera is still in a top-down view despite the complete overhaul of the world to scale everything to how it would look as a real world. However, there are no loading transitions between areas, and no swapping between screens when going into interiors, with the overworld blacking out to just focus on that interior.

A new side series game that expands what the Pokéathlon gave us in Heart Gold and Soul Silver. The five original Performance Stats return, with an added sixth in stability. There's an entire region to explore with plenty of sports to enter your team in, with sporting tournaments replacing battles - with singular events for wild battle encounters. It's pretty much a main series game but with a sports focus.

Battle Bingo returns as a spin-off, adding new cards that offer more than just 4x4 grids, including the easy 3x3 cards and the super challenging 6x6 cards that allow access to a full team of six. Specialised cards also get more interesting with cards, such as those that only allow you one 'mon to complete the card. Pokémon from across the generations will appear and at the end of the trailer a tease of a new 'mon will happen.

Although now I think on it, I guess this article wasn't meant to give such wild ideas. It certainly wouldn't get away with passing them off as predictions.

DLC would be nice but I really doubt it. At most on the Sword/Shield post launch support front, I think we'll get the original versions of Galarian forms (like Kanto Ponyta and Hoenn Zigzagoon) added to the wild area meanwhile Mystery Gift (code from shops for some, connect to internet for others) and HOME gives some Pokemon that aren't available by any other means.

My guess is:HOME and how it interacts with Bank, Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee and Sword/Shield (11 minutes)

...do people really think we're getting a Generation 8 fighter in Smash? And Rillaboom, at that, just because we have water and fire represented with Gen 6 and Gen 7? We have 2 fire starter Pokemon final evolutions in Smash - I don't think it means anything. Between that, the fact we already have a Pokemon newcomer in Ultimate, and the Sword/Shield spirit event (why would they hold one and then just have a special Spirit Board for it?), it's very unlikely...for the Fighters Pass. I could see a Gen 8 Pokemon join the roster later on, but I personally think we'd get a Pokemon like Sirfetch'd or Hatterene over another starter.

I expect news on Pokemon Home and Detective Pikachu 2, and probably something for Sword and Shield. Maybe a new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon as well.

I'm looking forward to seeing Detective Pikachu 2 but whether its ready for a first tease or not i don't know, other than that i'd like to think Pokemon Home will be free for NSO subscribers, that would be a nice way to add to its value.

It might be possible to make Pokemon Home include battling with the national dex, since all moves/stat information are already there. This would allow competitive balance in the latest games while also allowing less competitive matches to play and trade what they want with their friends. If they couple that with HTML-5 compatibility to play on any mobile/computer device, then their annual subscription might target both the larger 3DS audience and the switch install base while also giving them a win for addressing both fan and competitive concerns. Browser compatibility could be the excuse for not keeping these battles 2D, perhaps even reusing assets from all previous games (pick your graphical style for all pokemon that already have that drawn). 2D screenshots of all the new pokemon could be used as placeholders if they wanted to do no animation/graphics work.

Diamond and Pearl haven't had a remake yet and are arguably due, though it might be in the style of Let's Go. I believe if there is a game this year, it will be in the Let's Go style. If Sword and Shield have a revamp, I expect a Sword and Shield 2 with a more fleshed out story and hard mode tailored to older players, similar to Black and White 2.

If the entire video was just them announcing Pokemon Pay while Masuda was standing there giving us two giant middle fingers in front of a sign that says "Pokemon Home costs $60 a year" but then the last ten seconds was them saying "oh btw Battle Frontier DLC" then it'd still be my favorite Nintendo Direct in history. Hell, I'd even pay $20 for it.

Ok il simplify this:Current pokemon: local dexHaving all pokemon: global dexCombined with pokemon home, you will be able to transfer ALL POKEMON to swsh. This will count as a national/global dex which you may get a nifty present for completing.

I feel like Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee worked so well because of how universally well known the Gen 1 Pokemon are. Pikachu in particular is straight-up one of the most well-known characters in all of entertainment, right up there with Mario and Mickey Mouse.

Pokemon Let's Go Togepi and Marill doesn't have the same nostalgiac pull or selling power.

An expansion to Sword and Shield sounds interesting, but if I had to guess how the DLC or Expansion should be, then I would choose a huge Sinnoh-related DLC that would bring an essential remake/sequel/reimagination or anything of the Gen 4 games connected to the main games (similar to Torna: The Golden Country), it just would make more sense IMO. They would then release this expansion as a separate physical release.-These games had almost the entire Gen 1-4 Pokemon obtainable after all...Or they could do the same thing, but with the Kalos region.Another idea I have is to release some extra, smaller new content DLC to accompany this expansion. Anything.

Honestly, these titles represent a big step up in terms of execution for Game Freak. The only excuse to release a new, separate title to Sword and Shield would be full-proper sequel, just like Black and White 2

Speaking about other games, I find it more likely (and viable) for the mobile apps/games to be talked about on a possible conference this May, and Detective Pikachu 2 is still in development, and the guys at Creatures must be really focusing on their biggest project to date. No interruptions!But right now, I really want to know more about Pokémon Home, and I hope it releases soon, probably after the direct...

I’m expecting to see Pokemon Home, Pokemon Sleep, Detective Pikachu for Switch, and perhaps an announcement for either Gen 4 remakes or Let’s Go games focusing on Gen 2, but nothing else. Fairly underwhelming to have the first Direct of the year be centred around Pokemon TBH, when we know of no first-party games coming out in the first 3 months of the year aside from FE Encore next week and AC at the end of March.